Nazeli (na-ze-li) / graceful, airy
With more than 6.7 million speakers spread across the globe, Armenian is an ancient language with present-day relevance. While Armenia remains its primary country of origin and use, there are also sizable populations in Georgia, Russia, Iran (over 100k) and even Turkey who carry on this vibrant linguistic tradition.
Hianali (Hi-ana-li) / wonderful, breathlessly beautiful
Armenian is a separate branch of the Indo-European languages; it didn’t derive from other languages, and there aren’t any languages that were derived from it. The language has a long literary history, and the fifth century Bible is the oldest surviving text.
Mtatselakerp (mta-tse-la-kerp) / mindset, mentality
The Armenian language is a unique blend of various influences, from ancient Iranian languages to Greek and Aramaic characters. When the country adopted Christianity as its official religion centuries ago, it sparked a creative transformation in which Armenians invented an alphabet specifically designed for translating the Bible into their native tongue.
Ankhusap (ankhu-sap) / inevitable
Mesrop Mashtots set off on a journey to capture the Armenian language. During his travels, he discovered 36 different sounds and crafted an alphabet of their representation - later known as "Mashtots' Alphabet". As time moved forward and foreign influences poured in, two additional letters were added to this ancient script; expanding it's capacity with newfound words from all corners of the world.
Anaratutiun (ana-ra-tu-ti-un) / innocence, purity
Language never stands still - one need look no further than Armenian to see how profoundly it has changed over the centuries. Now, there are three distinct dialects: Grabar, or Classical Armenian; Eastern Armenian which is now widely used as the official language in Armenia; and Western Armeniain use by diaspora communities around the world. Although these varieties differ slightly linguistically they are still largely mutually intelligible due to their close ties throughout history.
Knkush (knku-sh) / feminine, delicate
Besides Armenia, the Eastern Armenian language is also spoken in Iran and Russia by Armenians living in those territories. The Russian language is broadly known in Armenia, while English is gaining more influence, alongside German and French.
Hamest (ha-mest) / modest, humble
In the twentieth century, the two modern dialects, Western and Eastern, removed all of their Turkish words because of the Armenian Genocide that took place in 1915.
Hazaragandz (ha-za-ra-gandz) / precious, priceless
The Armenian language matches other Indo-European languages in its structure, although it has unique features and grammar compared with other languages of the Caucasus. The language is rich in sequences of consonants. Both classical and modern Armenian dialects have a complex structure of noun declensions, but no gender.
Gradaran (gra-da-ran) / library
In modern Armenian, the use of secondary verbs to show tense has generally enhanced the inflected verbs of Classical Armenian. It must be noted that negative verbs are conjugated differently compared to positive ones in many tenses.
Ashkhar (ash-khar) / world
In terms of grammar, the early forms of Armenian language had much in common with classical Latin and Greek, but the modern language has endured many changes, joining some analytic features.
Hokis (ho-kis) / soul
Classical Armenian has no gender, not even in its pronouns; however, there is a feminine suffix (-uhi). So for instance, usutsich (teacher) becomes usutschuhi (female teacher). Grammatically, the suffix does not affect the sentence.
